


A Slightly Different Question

by gentlesquid_andink



Category: The Brave (TV 2017)
Genre: Adam's Got Game, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Pre-Date
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-17
Updated: 2018-10-20
Packaged: 2019-05-24 10:10:04
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 16,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14952662
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/gentlesquid_andink/pseuds/gentlesquid_andink
Summary: Jaz deserves to be wooed. With adventures and mystery and the loveliest, only slightly awkward pre-date.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Someone wrote something lovely for the fandom that involved the team (and aw, shucks, then just Adam and Jaz) swimming. It is late/too early for me to go and find it again, but I loved it enough for the idea to stick around and inspire a brief bit of fluff.

When Top showed up at her short-term rental outside D.C., her first traitorous thought was that something was wrong. Preach’s recovery in Southern California slid back into dangerous territory. Amir had found his sister’s killer and gone rogue. Someone else had died.

“Jaz.” He was standing there outside her door, waiting for her to invite him in, rather than just moving into her space like he normally would.

Turns out, he was just there because he “missed you - that so hard to believe?” It both was and it wasn’t; seven weeks wasn’t really that long, was it? Without him at breakfast, challenging her during training, sleeping a few feet away, seven weeks was a lifetime. 

But stateside had different rules, for time and for the personal geographies of relationships like theirs. Commanding officers could be tied to hundreds of tiny, daily moments, even while they kept boxed those moments into protocol. Friends required a different kind of space.

She and Top, though, they weren’t friends. Not really, not quite. They needed all those inescapable necessities of shared living to excuse the overlapping of their selves. So if he pretended to be surprised at her shock when he arrived unannounced and if she could see through it, she pretended right back that she didn’t know how well he knew her. Perhaps she wasn’t supposed to admit any of that here. 

( _But then again, they weren’t friends. They didn’t do casual visits, casual dinners, casual anything._ Some half-desirous plot in the back of her mind couldn’t help but note this as she led him into her living room.)

They stood there long enough for Jaz to realize she should start figuring out what to do to make this more comfortable. She cleared off a stool at the breakfast bar and gestured at it. She started towards the refrigerator. “Want a beer?” But when she looked back, Top was still just standing there in the middle of her living room. One hand was on his hip, feet planted apart. This was Top mid-decision, weighing his options. Deciding whether to go for it. Jaz had no idea what the “it” was that was being considered. Turning around to lean her hands against the counter of the breakfast bar from inside her small kitchen, Jaz held herself away from the ground and gave up this ridiculous pretense.

“What, Top? What is it? What’s going on, really?” There was no sense in pretending if he was just going to stand there going all command-mode. 

She really wasn’t built for stateside living.

Top was having none of it, though. “It’s nothing,” he blew her off a bit, but with that sardonic attitude that colored so many of their interactions. That glint in his eye and tone he used to keep her in check, yet let her know she could be freer than she thought the military would allow. “Or maybe something. Haven’t decided yet.”

“Okay, Top - you gotta give me something. I’m dying here.”

“Adam.”

Expecting some idea of what he was doing here not being a normal house guest, Jaz was thrown. 

“What?”

“Adam. We’re not in Turkey. That alright? First names today?”

She was going to have to crafty. “Depends. I mean, I guess that could be alright. If I knew why you were acting all,” Jaz made a wiggling motion with her hand. She wasn’t sure she should name how badly his strange behavior was getting under her skin. Top could be a wicked tease, and his competitive streak rivaled even her own. She just needed a bit of leverage…

The twinkle in Adam’s eye suggested she had tipped her hand a bit too far this time. “Okay. Come on,” and he crossed the open floor in a few long strides, took her hand, and headed back for the door. “I’m - wait. Keys.” She broke off to grab her keys and the bag with her wallet. Despite how badly her fingers wanted it, she abstained from reaching for his hand again when she returned. 

"Where are we going? Do I need to be, I don't know, fancier?" Jaz gestured at her jeans and old tee.

Adam skimmed her figure and turned to his car. "It's not a date."

 _Ohhhh kaaaay?_ Jaz would never in a million years have thought that it was. Which meant now she needed to be actually suspicious about what was going on here.

oOo oOo oOo

“So. Why are we at the Hyatt?”

The car came to a stop and Adam looked over at her briefly, tossing out “I thought you liked surprises?” before opening his door. Jaz played into it, now that they had established that she wasn’t getting any more information about their adventure than Adam wanted to give up. “I hate surprises!” she declared as she got out of the car. “You know this.” Adam met her on her side, a bag slung over his shoulder. “...and yet...” He nodded towards the entrance and Jaz put on a show of following reluctantly. 

She followed him inside where he by-passed the check-in desk for the concierge. “I’m Adam Dalton, here for the…”

“Oh, yes, sir. Please, come right this way.”

And then Jaz was being led by a man whose first name was suddenly allowed, who in turn was being led by a man whose name she didn’t know. She sighed and kept exactly five paces behind. 

When they stopped, the concierge unlocked a nondescript door and opened it for them while remaining outside. The smell of chlorine hit her, bringing with it the realization that they were at the hotel’s indoor pool. 

Adam thanked the man with a bill in his handshake and stepped into the room. Again, Jaz followed. 

The room was empty. “Where is everyone? The other guests?”

Adam had opened the bag and was rifling through it on the floor. “No one else. Just us this afternoon.” He stood up holding something deep purple and slinky. “For a bit, at least.”

“How did _that_ happen?”

“It’s for you. I’ve got my swim shorts on already,” he replied with a wink. A wink! Jaz couldn’t tell if it was a deflection or if he really thought she was asking about the bathing suit instead of the mysteriously private pool.

So she retreated once again into the sarcastic banter they used so well. “Did you go into the Women’s Department at Macy’s to buy that?”

“I did not. Had a friend of ours pick it out.”

A very real sense of dread crept into Jaz’s voice as she asked, with eyes closed, “Please tell me you did not ask the Deputy Director to help you figure out my measurements.”

Adam couldn’t help it - the warmth that flooded him at Jaz thinking about him figuring out how her body was shaped warred with the image of talking with Patricia about his intimate knowledge of said body. Jaz opened up one eye to peek and saw the resulting mirth on his face, signalling the all clear. “I did not ask my boss for your measurements.”

“ _Our_ boss.” Adam rolled his eyes. No amount of quibbling over the chain of command would make him lose sight of Jaz talking about whether or not Adam knew just how shapely she was.

“I asked Hannah.”

Jaz mulled this over, considering where it had landed her. “Okay. That’s fair.”

She took the suit Adam was still holding in his hand and headed into the locker room to change. “But only because she has excellent taste!” Jaz threw out the post-hoc condition.

Adam was counting on it. He couldn’t wait to get in the water with Jaz wearing whatever kind of swimsuit Hannah had grabbed. 

oOo oOo oOo

Anyone watching Jaz dive into the pool would have immediately understood her love for the water. As it was, Adam waited until she broke the surface before moving towards the edge himself. His entry wasn’t nearly as smooth and was, as many things were in his life, utilitarian. “I’ve missed this,” floated past him as he adjusted to the water’s depth.

“Thought you might. I know how much you love it.”

Jaz twisted and made for the opposite end. Adam watched her as she sluiced the water with clean, even strokes. Once she was on her way back, he decided to join her. When she saw his still-tanned arms through the choppy water between them, her naturally competitive instincts kicked in. Still, it wasn’t until he tapped the edge of the pool and sent a braggy look her way before kicking off that she made her decision: It was on!

The two raced a while with Adam making up for his shortage of grace with an abundance of pure strength. Twice Jaz caught herself holding onto his arms a little longer than was purely necessary to deflect his attempts at cheating. Eventually, their good-natured play devolved into gliding around with a lazy, floating aimlessness. 

“How did you know I needed this?” There was genuine wonder in her voice. 

“I always know what you need.” Adam sounded so serious. _Must be because we aren’t playing all over the place anymore,_ Jaz mused. 

“Hey, so how _did_ you get this place? You never answered.”

Adam was standing at the edge, crouched with his shoulders just under the surface. Jaz was bobbing just where the water was deep enough to go over her head. Every time she looked over, he was just barely submerged, watching her.

“A friend works the special events schedule. He owed me a favor. Told him I had a special question to ask someone and I wanted to do it here…”

Jaz slipped below the surface and let the butterflies that reared their nasty, cliche heads at the phrase “special question” have free reign for exactly one minute. When she broke the surface, Adam looked horrified. 

“I’m not -” Adam realized exactly how that might have sounded. “Not that question!”

The butterflies in her stomach died quickly, albeit of natural causes. Jaz swished her arms around herself in random patterns, not even designed to help her tread water. She didn’t mean to be so mean when she rejoined, “I mean, this isn’t even a date.” That sarcastic edge just always buoyed her.

Adam swam over to her, passed just outside her reach and circled back around. “Could be one later this week, though.” He put it out there like a tactical option. Like they were just considering the multiple ways of moving forward. It seemed so casual, Jaz wondered for a moment if he had arranged this entire day to break it to her gently that he was going to start seeing someone. He would never be one for casual hook-ups. He might insist otherwise, but all that potential had to be snapped up by someone eventually. Didn’t it? The idea just about stopped her where she was, treading water in the middle of the pool. 

Her silence must have suggested to Adam that he needed to provide her with more intel. He swam closer now that her arms were still, close enough for Jaz to see the water clinging to his ears. “Doesn’t have to change things.” Fuck, he knew she had been harboring a crush - one so deep, even Elijah hadn’t been able to get her to voice any evidence. They circled each other, Jaz refusing to back down, stuck in Adam’s orbit. “Just figured, if I didn’t ask now, we might not ever figure this thing out.” Jaz wanted to hide underwater again. That last bit was clearly and entirely directed at her. “We might not?” Adam’s face nodding just above the water was so close to her own. “Lots of things making priorities pretty clear lately. At least - for me.”

“So - we should go on a date?” It wasn’t an honest question; Jaz really was struggling to keep up with this version of her life - the one where she was almost naked, just out of reach of Adam Dalton, and he was asking her out in the middle of a pool during an elaborately planned pre-date.

But the question was already out there and pushing him away before she caught it. “Like I said, don’t have to change -” He was pushing back and Jaz didn’t want to just stay in his orbit, she wanted closer. She swam forward as he retreated and tangled her limbs up with his trying to stay above water. “Yeah. Yes - let’s get dinner. Or drinks. Just -” He’d thought she was turning him down, despite his best intel suggesting she wanted him, too. So he just couldn’t help kissing the answer right out of her mouth. 

She giggled as they fought to stay afloat, Adam pressing into her mouth as she opened her lips. The laughter morphed into a moan as he changed angles and deepened the kiss. By the time they met the edge, Adam pulled back enough to confess, “Thought you were saying ‘no.’” His hands came up to grasp the edge on either side of her. The idea that they were really going to do this, that Adam had been thinking about her, too, was still making its way through Jaz’s head. It wasn’t easy to think with Adam pressing up against her, lips still so close. 

Adam caught her looking at his mouth and licked his lips. She slid herself around his leg and adjusted her hold on his shoulders. Adam gave her another long, slow kiss, and then murmured against her, “We get five more minutes. Five. Then we gotta get out of here.”

If she didn’t think she could get him to move that date up from later in the week to tonight, Jaz might have fought him on it. Instead, she nodded and agreed, “Got it.” Then his mouth was on hers again.

oOo oOo oOo

There were a few people waiting outside for the pool to re-open when they emerged. A sign with fancy script laid against a scrolling stand next to the entry, reading “Closed So He Can Ask Her a Question…”

An elderly woman waiting with two small children asked, “Well?” as they passed.

“Ugh, she said ‘Yes.’” Adam clasped her left hand in his, hiding the bare finger that might give them away. He was pretty sure Jaz was blushing as they exited the building through a chorus of cheers.


	2. Post-Pre-Date Outing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam wants to savor the dating rituals, maybe get Jaz to really see herself as part of a couple.   
> Jaz just wants to get Adam to skip all that stuff.

Jaz was sitting in his rental car after their strange, but not unwelcome, swim. She wasn’t even pretending not to be watching him. Adam had driven through active gunfire, IED-laced deserts, and - once - an oncoming haboob. Maintaining focus on the rules, legal and unspoken, of DC traffic while Jaz scoped him out was by far the most stressful. He reached for the hand he had been holding until they reached the car. 

“What are the chances -” she started.

_Oh God,_ he thought. _Here we go…_

“- that you’re free tonight?”

“Welllll...I’m supposed to be meeting up with an old Delta buddy.” It wasn’t that he didn’t want to spend the rest of the evening with Jaz - get drinks with her, maybe walk along the hustling crowds in soft, evening light. It was just, that wasn’t the plan. 

Jaz arched her eyebrow in disbelief. He showed up, arranged what was hands-down the most romantic gesture of Jaz’s life - her own or vicariously lived through friends. And he did it on a day he already had other plans? What the hell? He was a master tactician, for Christ’s sake. 

Adam was already figuring out how to cancel tonight, intimate he had received a better offer without actually drawing too much attention to his evolving relationship with his sniper. Jaz didn’t know that, though, and he couldn’t resist teasing her. Never could. God he wanted to kiss that huff right out of her mouth. He could do that now - add that extra layer to the frision between them when they fought over stupid stuff, like dinner and timing and how often Jaz didn’t get her own way. 

He was sure his amusement and, he’d admit it, a bit of triumph at how this was going, were simmering just below the surface of his expression. He was sure Jaz was still watching him, too. 

“That’s how it’s gonna be, hunh?”

The smile broke full across his face. 

“That’s definitely how it’s gonna be.”

“Alright. Okay.” Jaz shifted back to facing forward down their road and took back her hand. “We are so gonna need to get those drinks soon, then.”

He couldn’t wait.

oOo oOo oOo 

They drove until Adam needed to make a decision about their route. “Listen, I have some errands I gotta run. You in?”

Jaz pretended to give this careful consideration, but he already knew which way she was leaning. She was still figuring out this shift in their dynamics, that was fair. Jaz always did that best over a bit of time. He could give that to her. 

“I could do some errands.”

“And maybe I could reschedule with Jimmy, while we’re out.”

Jaz smacked him, pretty high on his leg. 

“Ow! Driving here, Jazzy!” She kept touching him like that, with this familiarity and the right and a bit of a snap, he wasn’t going to make it through errands, never mind his big plans. 

And he _liked_ his plans.

“Then don’t be mean.”

“I’m not mean. Not to pretty ladies.”

“You’re a horrible flirt,” she replied with a glow. That was part of the problem, right there. Jazzy wasn’t used to the kinds of compliments he wanted to speak out loud, now that he knew she might let him. Her beauty was only ever weaponized, another tool to get the job done or another liability to be turned against her. The nice thing to do, the gentlemanly allowance of her discomfort, would be to deflect. But Adam wasn’t going to let that become expected or acceptable, not between the two of them.

“And yet - you’re dating me.”

That shut Jaz up for long minutes driving across town. Because yes, yes she was. How about that?

oOo oOo oOo

Running errands with Adam in Alexandria turned out to be pretty much the same as running errands with Top in Incirlik. Except they were standing in a Target instead of commissary. Top was still efficient in his chores, prepared with a list for purchases and a plan of attack for securing them. It was vaguely comforting to Jaz to know that this man who she had somehow ended up dating was actually the same guy she had been living with for years.

Eventually, they returned to his car after another stop and he turned to ask, “You still up for some drinks?”

“Yes!” That level of enthusiasm seemed a bit too earnest. They weren’t even out yet and she was already turning into that girl. Ugh. “I mean, I think I’ve earned it.”

Once again, Adam let it slide. They’d get there, he knew. 

oOo oOo oOo

The bar they found was rowdy and messy and not exactly where Adam thought Jaz would find comfortable. Definitely not romantic. They ordered drinks anyway and waited for a spot to open up at a pub table.

Jaz smirked around her drink as she sat back against the wall. "I'm so glad this worked out - I kinda needed a drink after your shenanigans earlier."

Adam's eyebrows shot up. "You didn't love the setup? You miss swimming - admit it."

Jaz chuffed her head to the side. "Well, yeah. But this morning, I didn't exactly wake up expecting us to be anywhere on a date - swimming, this --" She gestured around them at the Georgetown scene.

"Oh this? This is not a date."

Jaz squinted a bit. "You keep saying that..."

"No, this is a post-pre-date outing." At her blank face, he continued. "I did not pick you up at your apartment, you did not dress especially for me -" 

Her eyebrow rose; he hurried on, "though you look..." Eyes swept over her. Jaz felt a flush join the smile in her cheeks. "Good. Always look good, Jazzy." She had ditched the tee in the car before entering. All that skin and now he could remember what it felt like against his.

Adam gathered his breath and concluded. "There was no game plan, no lead up. No anticipation." Well, that last bit wasn't quite true. But still. It was the principal of the thing. He was going to Date Jaz. 

"You are a complicated man, Top."

He tipped his glass at her and drank.

oOo oOo oOo

The night steeped darker around them and eventually, they would have to head home. Jaz was trying to work out the best approach to getting Top to come home with her. Given his insistence throughout the day that none of this, in any way, constituted an actual date, she wasn’t exactly sure how she could shift the narrative here.

Adam had just flagged down another round of water when it hit her.

“Can’t we just...pick a date we’ve already been on and call it our first?”

There was no choking or liquid spilled, yet Adam was looking at her like she had lost her damn mind. 

“Just - decide something was a date!?” 

Jaz came around the pub table and stood in front of him, looped her arms around Adam’s neck to bring herself in close. “Yeah.” Moved in real slow, making sure he knew that she knew he wanted this kiss. “Like, that time we were married in Croatia? You took me out to brunch.”

“We were monitoring the pastry chef.”

“Held my chair out for me and everything.” She kissed him and it felt like a reward for good behavior in a sweet, shared memory.

“Or like that time,” she continued. “You proposed in that town outside Madrid? Got down on one knee. Everyone was watching."

“Just because we’ve been married a lot doesn’t mean I don’t get to date you.”

This line of memories was dangerous, and she knew it, she had to see how hard he was trying not to remember the last time their cover involved a fake marriage to sneak him into a dangerous country. It was right there, lurking at the edge of his awareness. 

The only possible way to stave it off that occured to Jaz in the moment was a return to the core of her argument. “Or there was that one time,” she swiped her thumb up over his carotid as she spoke. “When you surprised me with this gorgeous, private swim and told me sweet things and then we made out all wrapped around each other while other folks were waiting their turn.”

“That was this afternoon.”

“When you took me on that date?”

“You are impossible.”

This grin was lightning quick and so mischievous it stole his breath. “You’re the one that wants to date me…” She gave it right back to him. If they had been alone, Adam would have smacked her ass for that. Instead, he darted in for a quick, hard kiss and released her. “Yep. That’s me.”

As much as he wanted the night to go on, that seemed like a natural break. Adam flagged down their check. Jaz returned to her seat against the wall and reached for her bag. “Don’t - I got this.” Adam tried.

“Nope. Not a date, right?” Her plastic joined his and they grinned like fools at each other across the table while they waited.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This only happened because asandbakken asked nicely over on tumblr. (See what happens when you send me sweet comments, hmm??)


	3. First Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam has a Plan and very definite ideas about First Dates.

Adam was not nervous. He knew how to do this, how to date. Take a woman out, show her a good time, mind his manners all while taking her in. Knew Jaz, too - how to work her towards an end game even when she might not see it. 

Plus, he had a Plan.

oOo oOo oOo 

Jaz looked him up and down in a way he had only suspected she did in the past. “You look amazing.” The deep blue of his shirt brought out his eyes and the suit jacket and jeans combination was doing things to her. Rarely did Jaz get to see Top so suave and never when she got to ogle him without it being a joke she couldn’t risk.

“I think that’s supposed to be my line,” he replied from the other side of her door. He hadn’t given her much to go on, but even before Jaz had googled the name of the restaurant, she knew she should pull out all the stops. His comment about “dressing just for him” over drinks suggested he wouldn’t mind seeing her in a fancy dress. She had wanted to see what that did to him; watching him take her in, she was glad she did. 

The matching black lace she slipped on underneath helped quell any fears that she was presuming too much with the rest of her outfit. Confidence for the win.

Out the door and locking up, Jaz was all efficiency and economy of movement. Badass ninja going somewhere special. Stepping forward to lean just out of reach behind her, Adam aimed to disrupt that. Low into her ear, he repeated, “Jazzy. You look beautiful.” He caught how she flattened her palm against the door and took a beat before fitting her key into her purse. The tidy scrap in her hand was dainty and couldn’t hold much, surely. It was thoroughly impractical and designed solely for presentation. For dates like this. The amount of pleasure it brought him to see Jaz choose this kind of flirty fancy for him was definitely ridiculous. Here he was, crowing inside over a damn purse. 

As Jaz turned back to him, Adam decided to prolong the moment. Really make sure she knew how much this all meant to him. He licked his lips and managed to keep his eyes on hers. “Jasmine.”

Laughter was definitely not what he was expecting in the moment. Of course, Jaz wasn’t expecting to be laughing at the situation, either. (Not at him, he really was being so sweet). Full name, though? Really? And now they hadn’t even made it to the restaurant and he was giving her his Afflicted CO Look. God did she know that look well.

“Sorry. Sorry, you’re right. I look amazing. Continue.”

Adam held out his hand and waited. Made her take it before leading them down to the curb. He made sure his body blocked her from the car - otherwise, he might not have been allowed to open the door for her, shift his hand from her grasp to the small of her back as she passed him into the passenger seat. She might have read his silence after her apology as aggrieved, but his cheeks had those slight rounded puffs that only appeared when he was particularly pleased. At least, Jaz thought he was having fun with all these little rituals. She really should let him have them. 

Adam rounded the car and joined her. Jaz was back to being watchful, ready to assess the developing situation for the most appropriate response. Rather than sway her towards any particular battle plan, Adam kept his sigh internal and leaned across the console. When she didn’t join him there, he kept his eyes on hers and quirked his index finger in a ‘come here’ plea. That, at least, prompted a hint of a smile and her face before him. This kiss was as sweet as Adam could manage with the smell of Jaz so close beating _Jaz This is Jaz Dating Jaz_ into him in a steady thrum of excitement and deep satisfaction.

A fair bit of heat, even in their fancy clothes.

Through that insistent beating in his blood, Adam was certain Jaz looked more confident, more herself when she settled back into her seat. 

“Thought we were supposed to do that at the _end_ of the date?”

Adam shifted the engine into gear and started them off to their destination. Apparently, Jasmine Kahn didn’t know the first thing about first dates.

oOo oOo oOo

They arrived to valet parking and over-sized patio lights out front. Jaz didn’t wait for him to open her door, but she did pause for him to join her on the sidewalk. “It’s just us, Jaz.”

“Just us and a scotch and steak.” As they entered, Jaz took in the dim mood lighting, the sea of tables for two complete with tablecloths and starry eyed couples. Her heels clicked on marble tile. “You pulled out some serious stops.” All this was as Adam expected: They were in First Date Territory. Not ‘drinks after work,’ not Happy Hour. He had plans for this woman and they involved serious commitment and no small amount of class. First dates - real First Dates - were about demonstrating value. He valued Jasmine Kahn. Jaz was worth a first class experience. He wanted their time together to show that he knew that. And he wanted her to believe it. 

Problem was, Jaz didn’t do five star anything. He knew this was a bit of a risk. Nevertheless, he pulled out her chair and gave a self-indulgent smirk at her “Why, thank you,” before joining her at their table for two. And then he delved into the same jab and refocus that always had her following him. 

oOo oOo oOo

Like the first time Top wanted to put Jaz into play specifically to take advantage of the rampant misogyny in their country of operation. 

“You sure I’m the right person for this?” He loved that she was finally comfortable to poke at his suggestions, work as a team to uncover any weaknesses before they became an issue in the field.

“Fact that you’re a woman? That’s an asset here." She looked skeptical.

"I know because my job is to figure out what our assets are and how to use them to our advantage.”

Jaz nodded. She was biting the lower corner of her lip, which he was beginning to understand was a tell: Jaz was pumping herself up to do something she wasn’t sure she could win on first try. Adam lowered his voice a bit.

“If I’m putting you out there, it’s because I know you’re gonna do this better than Preach or McG or Elijah. Better than me.”

“McG does tend to stand out in a crowd.” So dryly he knew he had won some of her confidence back. Even if she was still deflecting.

Top didn’t quite smile, but the sparkle in his eyes was rather...noticeable, Jaz decided. Louder, he agreed. “Too pretty for his own good; too easily distracted to get in and get out.”

From across the Quonset came a half-hearted protest. “I heard that!”

Now the grin peeked through Top’s beard. He knew if he said anything more, _He’s not the only one here who’s gorgeous, you’re smart enough not to rely on it, you can’t, Jesus, Jazzy, we could send you in a different way and they wouldn’t know what hit them,_ he’d spook the hell out of her. Probably earn a complaint in his file and a well-deserved chewing out from Patricia. The way Jaz was still squirming as they moved forward with discussing her moves had him wishing she could see her badass beauty through his eyes for just a minute, though.

She caught his concern, and hopefully nothing else.

“It’s alright, Top. I got this.” 

Time to be the leader. “I know you do. That’s why this is the best play. Now let’s go over the transfer to Elijah…”

oOo oOo oOo 

Or the third - no, fourth - time they went undercover as a couple and there was something off about Jaz throughout the tactical briefing. He couldn’t put his finger on what it was until he realized: she was being awfully quiet. Just watching him, nodding in the right places. She didn’t speak a word, not to test for weak spots, not to amp up the guys with her teasing. They broke and each of the guys went off to prep their gear. Adam nodded for her to follow him out front. 

He wanted her to talk to him, and he didn’t want to have to prompt her to get her started. If he did, she was only following orders. There wasn’t a fire going, but he sat them over at the firepit anyway. This was turf normally reserved for their more personal conversations.

They sat quietly for a while. Sometimes they did that. 

“I can switch out with Elijah.” Beside him, Jaz chuffed a serious laugh. 

“The two of you are close,” Top reasoned. “Everyone will see that.”

“Everyone will see him checking out some guy’s ass.” Top didn’t believe her, but it was true. “He can’t help it! It’s like the left hand scan for women trying to get hitched.”

Adam was familiar with being on the receiving end of both such moments. Still. 

“Okay, then McG. He can turn on the charm, you won’t even know what hit you.”

“I don’t want to go under with any of them.” Christ, that shouldn’t sound so good. Adam had to tamp that down, forget Jaz had ever said it. 

“Something’s on your mind, though. Now’s the time to get it all out there.”

“If we had another woman on the team, we would be building a cover as...college students traveling together, or - sisters. Something. And instead, I get paired up with some big strong man to take care of me.”

“Told you - you want big, you can take McG.” Top wasn’t exactly a small man, but deflection seemed the safest route. Except when Jaz’s response was a very pointed, salty expression aimed his way.

“I can only work with what I got. But you want a different way in, we’ll find it.”

“If I wanted something else, I’d have said it.” That was true. His girl was nothing if not willing to speak her mind. “I’m going in as your undercover wife. We’ll be fine.”

“I promise, I’ll be the most henpecked husband in the entire US special forces if you’d do me the honor tomorrow.”

“Oh yeah right. You’d argue back just as much as you do now.” Somehow, that sentence slipped over into projecting how Adam would or would not be as a husband, not his cover. Those blurred roles overlapped in her speech and Jaz hoped to hell he didn’t call her on it.

“You’re one to talk,” he retorted as he stood and headed inside, confidence in their plan restored.

oOo oOo oOo 

He knew this was a risk, fancy dinner and all, but Jaz always heard him out. Over a second glass as their plates were cleared, he asked, “How you doing?”

“I’m good,” Jaz seemed to resurface while looking around them. A few tables had turned over and she seemed slightly surprised to see new couples surrounding them. “This is really nice, actually.”

“Actually!?”

“Top.”

“I get an ‘actually’ and now I get ‘Top’-ed?”

Now she was pretending to pout. God he loved her.

“I’ll have you know this involved some prime first date planning.”

That got a laugh out of her. “Did you have a tactical session? Was Noah on support?”

Adam rolled his eyes; she didn’t need to know how, exactly, he had secured this reservation.

“If I did -”

Another giggle. A faux glare in her direction.

“If I did, it was worth it.”

She really couldn’t handle that kind of sappy. While she was still unbalanced, Adam signaled for the check. That was as good an exit line as he could manage.

oOo oOo oOo

Except it wasn’t quite an exit line, not with Jaz all chatty now and...plotting. He was sure of it. They parked on the street and Adam turned to regard her across the console. 

“You should come inside. We could...have coffee.”

“We are not…’having coffee’...on our first date.”

“But I _like_ coffee. And you loooove coffee.”

Adam closed his eyes against the images that conjured up. She kept going. “I’ve been thinking about coffee with you all night. Longer.”

“That’s why we gotta date.”

The wrinkle across Jaz’s forehead was just the latest thing he wanted to kiss off of her tonight. “I think I might be getting lost in the metaphors…”

“I don’t want just coffee with you. I want the whole thing. You really think we’ve been together all this time? Even after you almost drowned trying to wrap your mind around the fact that I was asking _you_ out?”

Caught that, did he? Jaz really thought she had kept that from him, her initial assumption he was letting her down easy as he began a life with someone else. She was still uneasy with his announcement of that awareness as he opened his door and came around to meet her on her side of the car. Of course, the door was opened and closed around her before he made it across. Even on autopilot, her body rejected that kind of gendered gesture. 

Adam just smirked and headed off towards her building, knowing Jaz would be by his side momentarily. And she was. When she caught up to him, he asked, “You know how I know we weren’t really together then? All those times we were pretending?”

Jaz looked up at him and he could see how badly she wanted to believe they had been, even if it was a costume for a job, even if it didn’t, couldn’t stick. Those big eyes were the only fragile thing about her. He took back the hand he held so often now, and then took the other one, as well. Waited until she was looking straight back at him and started reeling her in. “Because we couldn’t do this, just the two of us. Just you and me, Jaz.” The kiss started gentle, sweet. A First Date Kiss.

But Adam had been thinking about her mouth on his since they started and now he was primed with all the ways Jaz had delighted him tonight. “Every time I got to press my lips on your cheek, your forehead, I wanted your mouth on me.”

Adam pulled back just enough to lean his forehead on hers. Jaz’s eyes were closed and she made the slightest “hmmm.” At his lips leaving hers? Or his continued proximity? Adam had no fucking clue; he just wanted to hear her make that sound again. 

“And you. You’ve been challenging my plans since day one. 's really hot.”

“Cause I wanted your mouth, too. Even if I wasn’t allowed to want that.”

She had pulled back to look at him while she admitted that. His brave girl. And then she was staring at his mouth and he knew what was coming next. If he wanted to make his point, he had to make it quick.

“You can, though. You can have both, Jazzy. We are fucking amazing in the field. I’ve never had anything like that, not ever. We’re gonna keep having that. We just, we gotta talk it through, okay?”

Jaz looked wrecked, like she might be reconsidering this whole dating thing. “You got me nearly naked and wet just to ask me out.”

Adam closed his eyes and tried to manage the competing mental tasks of committing the sound of Jaz saying those words to memory and ignoring them right here in the present moment. _Stay on mission, Top._

“Liked you that way, too.” His voice was all kinds of gravelly. Fuck.

Jaz rolling her eyes and tucking her fingers into his front pockets was a new addition to the many ways he witnessed Huffy Jaz react after she felt she had revealed too much. It was fair to say he was fond of them all, but this one was some special kind of hot.

“So we’re dating.”

“We’re dating.” Adam kissed her cheek and murmured, “I had a lovely time tonight.”

Jaz wasn’t sure which reaction to indulge: pulling him back in for more kissing, taking out her frustration at how difficult Adam was making things, or the childish, silly school girl desire to press her hand to her cheek. Adam smiled as he moved back, turned, and bounded back to the car.

Jaz stood there and yelled after him, “Are you gonna call me or what?”

They were both smiling as he drove away. Date Number One was an unqualified success.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Fluff is not my natural writing environment. Comment love helps keep the sweet date thoughts flowing ;-D
> 
> What do ya'll think Adam might have as his Second Date expectations???


	4. Second Date

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Adam had fewer ideas about Second Dates and they land in a bit of a mess.

On the ride home, Top can’t stop going over the best moments of the date. He thinks about the way Jaz had looked when he first saw her, all dressed up in that short lacy thing for him; the way they eased right into their usual banter. Christ, how she had tried to talk him into bed. 

Once back at his own place, Top was too keyed up to move on to anything else. His first and only instinct was to figure out the next phase of the operation. So. Top had absolutely not gone wandering around the internet looking up proper dating etiquette. He checked with Hannah. 

“Dalton? What’s going on? Hey! How was swimming?” He could practically hear the euphemistic wiggle of her eyebrows over the line. Spy friends were the worst. 

“That suit was unlike anything I’ve ever seen on Jaz.”

“But not in a bad way, right? You loved it?” Adam shook his head; she didn’t even ask what _Jaz_ had thought of it. 

“Yes, we had a good time. Had a real good time at dinner last night, too.”

“Oooh, do tell!” 

Giving up intel before he made his ask of her seemed rather uneven an exchange. Forget Phase Two of Date Jaz - what he should have prepared for was soliciting this advice. He rubbed a hand over his beard, sure Hannah could read his tells. She must have understood the pause and the bristling to mean something was troubling him because she was packaging an offer to help in light teasing. “You tell me how your dinner went and I’ll tell you about your invisible man’s hot date…”

Interesting. Adam was glad he wasn’t the only one finally making some moves.

“How about you tell me how soon I can call her and then I tell you my plans for the second date?”

Hannah was laughing, at him as much as at his negotiation strategy. That was fine, he could take it. He was confident she was ready to give him all the pointers he needed once she got it out of her system. What was a little bruised ego in the face of his chances at overwhelming force for convincing Jaz they could be an actual couple? 

“Okay. We can do this, Captain. So tell me - how did she look when she was laughing at your jokes?” She had an assessment protocol for determining when to call post-date. Top wondered if this is what it felt like to have a sister. 

oOo oOo oOo

“Now, you and Amir. Tell me so I can hold it over Jaz…”

The dirt was even better than he expected. Spy friends were awesome. 

oOo oOo oOo

It was after midnight when he got off the phone with Hannah, but that was alright, she said. “How often do you text this late on leave?”

Adam thought about it, reported back. “Few nights a week maybe.”

“You two are fucking adorable. Do it now or wait until mid-afternoon tomorrow.”

So he thought about what Hannah had said about emphasizing highlights and using her responses to gauge whether action or withholding would buy him the best chances for a second date. “I mean, she’s gonna say yes to another date, Top.” He crafted the first text and forced himself to sit on the couch. No pacing, Hannah had warned. It would amp him up and she would sense his anxiety. “Through text?” He could hear her incredulity through her silence. “Fine. Text, assess, respond. No pacing.”

_I’m glad we gave ourselves this. Every time I’ve thought about actually taking you out, I knew it could be good. We would be good together._

oOo oOo oOo

Jaz was curled up on the chaise end of her sectional, wearing an oversized shirt over the lingerie she had worn for Adam when her phone buzzed. In a perfect world, she would have leveraged her impressive skills to reach her phone with the grace and stealth with which she had been trained. It was almost 1 am and she was finally dozing off after replaying every minute of their evening together and, well, she startled. And she was still half-asleep when she read the text and all she could think was that it sounded like goodbye, like Top had this fantasy and this had been an incomplete comparison. 

_I thought we were giving ourselves more. If you just wanted dinner, we could have done that without all the foofaraw._

Fuck. She wasn't even sure that was a word. Maybe if he’d come home with her, they wouldn’t have been in this situation, she couldn’t help thinking. In addition to being barely awake, she was grumpy now that Top had texted instead of talking to her while still being a bit turned on from what she thought was a more entertaining date than fancy dinner could ever be.

Her phone buzzed again almost immediately.

_I’m trying to tell you I had a great time. Seeing you, taking you out. It was something special, Jaz._

That kind of talk, where Adam just came out and said things like that, really got to her. She didn’t want to diminish that or put him off, push him away. She just couldn’t handle it when he got all...serious and romantic and ugh. Jaz bit her lip and dealt with her damn flaming cheeks before typing back in quick succession.

_Sorry! Just...read that wrong._   
_So this is how you date?_

_It’s how I date you._

Good Lord. Now her cheeks hurt from smiling. She wanted to tell him that she likes it, that she is fully on board, even if she falls back into snark and teasing and sometimes reads the worst case scenario. Easier territory and all that. Before she can figure out exactly how to give him the kind of words he deserved, her phone buzzed again.

_So. Can I take you out again?_

oOo oOo oOo

Two days later, two days before their next date. Instead of telling Jaz what, exactly, he had planned for the evening, he asked her to meet him on the mall at 7 pm. Jaz has planned three entirely different outfits and purchased two new cocktail dresses, one a possibly risque red number and one a respectable deep plum. She cannot imagine Adam’s reaction to any of the possibilities. Finally, she texts him. 

_What’s the dress code for Wednesday night?_

_Are you trying to cheat? I promise this surprise is a good one, Jazzy_   
_It’s pretty open. Dressy-casual._

What Adam wore to their fancy dinner could be considered ‘dressy-casual.’ There was no way around it. Jaz needed more information. Dialing instead of typing, this time, Top didn’t sound surprised when he answered.

“What kind of dressy-casual. Because Saturday wasn’t dressy-casual. Not for me.”

His voice dropped with his rejoinder. “Saturday wasn’t any kind of casual, Jaz.”

She hit the pillow on the back of the couch a few times before speaking. “Should I wear a dress again? I saw you looking. You liked it.”

A soft chuckle. “I have been looking at you like that longer than I should have.”

That was definitely a patented Jaz huff over the line. Right. Her question. “I mean, you can.”

“You are not helping! Should I wear shoes to cover long distance? Are the people around us going to be wearing jeans or ties? Or both?”

“Jaz. You wanna know the surprise?” He was serious. If it was bothering her, making her anxious, he’d tell her. No guilt, just hand it over. She couldn't ruin his planning, though. Especially after he admitted how much work he put into their first date.

“No. I want the surprise.”

She could hear the grin in his voice. “Hmm. Me, too. Wear something you like. Makes you feel good. I’m gonna like you whatever you’re wearing.”

There he went again with that honest fucking mouth of his. Jaz really didn’t know if she could sign up for this kind of plainspoken romantic talk for, well. For however long he wanted.

oOo oOo oOo

Jaz met him at the Smithsonian metro station, as requested, and they walked along the mall. Once again, Top was dressed unlike anything she ever got to see. She vaguely wondered whether he was wearing the same denim or if he had an entire stateside wardrobe designed to accentuate his ass and his thighs. “We’re headed up this way,” he shared with a nod. Toward the capitol. That would be...too obvious. She was fully intrigued and she followed.

Along the way, Adam found himself checking her out. The dress was simple and some soft material that wrapped around her curves without looking too complicated. The dark purple looked great against her skin. He took her hand and rubbed his thumb over the outside of her hand as a distraction while gazed down the back of her. Finally, she caught him out and made a face. He smiled and pulled her against his side as they continued walking. “Looking good, is all. I get to do that now, right? Check you out?”

“Yeah.” She snuggled in a bit and took a deep breath of his cologne and his detergent and his skin. She got to do that, too.

They made their way to the National Air and Space Museum and Adam paused, nodding up the steps. “You ready for the plan?”

She couldn’t help but smile. “Ready.”

“There’s an after hours event on the stars. I thought we could start there.”

“Learn more about this vain queen.” 

“And some other characters, I’m sure. Then a bit of stargazing, see what we can’t find.”

If she’d thought dinner last weekend was romantic, this was enough to make her insides both cringe and flutter at the same time. Adam held out his hand to lead her inside. Jaz was still trying to figure out how to handle this new side of Top, how to fit it into the ways she already knew they worked together. She bumped her shoulder against his. “Your strategy team help you come up with this one?” Looking up at him, she let the teasing shine through her eyes and her cheeks.

“Came up with this one all on my own, thank you.”

“It’s maybe perfect,” she conceded as they got into line. 

oOo oOo oOo 

She spoke too soon. After exchanging their tickets, Adam and Jaz followed the crowd into a lecture hall. Instead of the planetarium show Adam had been expecting, it appeared they were going to listen to a lecture by one of the resident astronomers. Adam looked around and didn’t see any other confused faces. They took their seats and, soon, the lights were dimmed.

The guy was trying, but the material was so technical. And dry. Twenty minutes in and Adam snuck another sideways glance at Jaz. She was fading. Fast. Clearly she was trying to hang in just for him - and it wasn’t like he was enjoying this any more than she was. Where were the Greek myths? Where was the sense of adventure, the deep wonder of exploration?

Instead, they got yet another word Top couldn’t pronounce. If they were playing a drinking game, which would have been far more entertaining, they might both be on the floor by now. And that was saying something. He stretched his arm around her shoulders and leaned into Jaz, tapping their signal for exfil on her shoulder. That seemed to throw her (or she had zoned out even worse than he feared). “What?”

“Come on. We’re reclaiming our date.”

He stood up, motioned for her to do the same.

“Sorry. Excuse us,” she whispered to the guests next to her. They exited the lecture hall as quietly as possible. When they were barely out, Jaz started giggling. Adam gripped one hand high on her ribs and moved her down the hall and into an alcove with a wordy exhibit. 

“That,” he started. “Was not what I was expecting.”

“That’s not why you love the stars.”

“It is not,” he confirmed. The warmth from her knowing what he loved, from remembering why she knew this, was not nearly enough to overcome his chagrin with their evening so far. The look on his face was too much for Jaz. All that romance talk and here he was, looking all defeated. She pulled him in closer and ran her hands up his chest. “You like the stars cause they hold stories. Not because of their trajectories and...new particles. What did he call them?”

“I don’t remember, Jaz.”

“Doesn’t matter. Just meant we got to sneak out here for some time together instead” She leaned up on tiptoe and captured his lips with her own. Licked across his pouting bottom lip. Caught his tongue when he let her in. "And I rather like time with you." He ducked back down for one more kiss.

“Like you, too.”

Her heels clicked back onto the tile floor. “I’ve been getting that.”

“Know what you’re also getting? A real second date.” Adam looked around a bit, then took off down a hall. Instead of leading them back to the main entrance, he found the nearest staircase and headed up. At the top publicly-accessible floor, they found another hall. 

“What are we looking for, Top?”

“Signs for ‘emergency exits’ or ‘rooftop access.’” Hunh. That brought a bit of a thrill. 

Jaz pointed out a ‘rooftop exit’ sign and Adam grabbed her hand. There was a small door which seemed to lead to a Staff Only stairwell.

The door was locked. Foiled again. The Smithsonian didn’t seem to be any more concerned with Adam’s Rules of Dating than she was. Jaz was about to suggest that they just head back to her place, queue something up on Netflix, when she realized Adam had his swiss army knife in hand.

“Are we breaking in?” Jaz faux whispered. 

Adam’s reply was far more subtle, barely mouthed between them. “Not if you keep making all that noise.”

A twist of very nimble fingers and Adam got the door open. The two of them paused to ensure no one was coming to investigate and then they moved into the stairwell. Jaz couldn’t help but comment, “This is way better than that lecture.”

_Better late than never,_ Adam figured. He could still turn this date around. They followed the signs up until the stairwell dead-ended. At the far end was a ladder and another sign. Clearly their way to the roof involved some climbing. 

Of course it does, Jaz figured, as she reached down to remove her heels. She handed one to Adam and started up.

oOo oOo oOo

They emerged through a small hatch to one of the best views in town. It was too bright to catch anything like the night sky in full glory. And yet. 

“This is beautiful.” Jaz sounded reverent.

Adam quite agreed. 

oOo oOo oOo

They stood looking at the monuments, carved out of duty and civility and pride. Walked the perimeter to see if they could make out the White House. The space felt connected to a different perspective of this city, yet wildly private. Sitting together to find what stars they could felt just as intimate as it did in Paris and Sofia and Incirlik. Only this time, it was far less forbidden.

By the time the night was dark enough to find their stories in the sky, they had been talking for over an hour. Adam pointed out Vega, sounding more than somewhat ensnared himself as he described the myth of Morpheus. “In Japan, though, Vega is part of a tragic love story.”

“Mmm mmm. No.” Adam looked at her. “None of those tonight.”

She tried to kiss the thought away; when he opened his mouth and gave in to the desire to deepen it, she thought perhaps she had succeeded.

When they came up for air, Adam didn’t go far. “This is it for me. The stars, the adventures - being here with you.” He rubbed his thumb across her jaw. Jaz couldn’t speak so she leaned in once more. He let her. Adam knew it took Jaz some time to work things out when there wasn’t an action to take or a clear shot in sight. “Can we keep having this conversation?” he asked of her, knowing it was the best way forward.

“Keep dating? Yeah, I’d like that. Please.” Besides, the next date was their Third Date. Jaz needed that to figure out where things were really headed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A spin on a suggestion from the original reader who popped over to tumblr and convinced me that a fic of the actual date was worthwhile. Here's the long way to your stargazing, Asandbakken! The next chapter also includes a twist on a suggestion from another lovely Braver. What else do y'all think should be happening next, hmm??
> 
> I also have to apologize for any and all liberties taken with the museum. The Smithsonian would never have dry events or get in the way of such a lovely date. Is Smithsonian Whump a thing? And I in no way condone illegal entry onto the roof. Ahem.


	5. Third Date, lead up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey y'all. It's been a hot minute since Jaz and Adam went on their second date. Thanks for bearing with me as the updates slowed considerably; I've got an uptick in work (and after work) activities keeping me from putting thought to paper. 
> 
> Rather than letting text that already exists sit on my drive, here! Have the lead up to the Third Date! I'm going to try breaking this update into a few smaller chapter-ish bits. The rest of the date will be coming as it's written, maybe this weekend, maybe later in the week. Then the post-Third Date events (ahem) will likely be its own chapter-ish part. 
> 
> At least one reader has made this request as they are dealing with the rains and wrath of Florence; if any other Bravers have Jalton-y goodness to share, it sounds like it would provide some much-needed distraction.

They were in an aisle of the Lantern Bookshop when Jaz found their next date. It was tucked into her slouchy bag. Jaz had gone to take out the list of new releases she remembered she had thrown into her bag and instead pulled out a brightly colored postcard. From the look of utter nonchalance on Adam’s face, she suspected he knew more than he was oh so carefully not letting on.

“What’s this?” Jaz flipped it over and saw a simple text tagline on the other side, with what looked like some dates and an address. 

“I don’t know, what is it?”

Jaz stopped their lazy progression through the YA section and put a hand on her hip. “Did you slip this into my bag?”

Adam had the good grace to look slightly embarrassed. “I was going to reverse palm it into your back pocket, but I wasn’t sure I could pull it off. Not with my resident ninja.”

That confession had Jaz laughing out, bright and loud and not at all full of herself. Adam wasn’t sure how this idea was going to go over, but God, he loved how playful she was - how he could lean into that just a bit more now that they were giving this dating this a go. He pulled Jaz into his side and kissed the side of her head through her hair. Adam felt her stiffen and immediately released her, looking around for sight of someone they knew as CO and subordinate.

“Sorry. We haven’t really discussed the whole PDA thing. I know -” His backtracking was interrupted by Jaz winding her arms around his middle and leveraging herself up into his mouth. Her lips tasted vaguely like the fancy coffee she’d been sipping as they perused books. When her tongue rubbed its way past his lips and dipped inside, he just about lost it, moving one firm hand down her back just above her ass. 

Jaz was the one to break the kiss. 

“Don’t care,” Jaz said as her mouth left his and her heels lowered back to the floor. If Adam was still a bit dazed, he figured he’d earned it, getting her to sigh like that, right in the middle of their mundane - and very public - outing.

“Just - didn’t want you to crush my only clue.” It took Adam a moment to realize what she was talking about as she pulled the postcard back between them.

“Ah. Not so much a clue as an invitation.”

Jaz held up the postcard and saw that the brightly colored image resolved into a carnival scene, complete with an old-fashioned circus tent and a ferris wheel in the background. 

“It’s down past Hannah’s. Thought maybe you’d let that be our next date? Friday night?” 

They were on another of their non-date excursions, midday shopping for books and microbrews and excuses to spend time together. Adam figured he could set some plans in motion that would prevent another text-turned-call shake down over footwear and the definition of ‘dressy-casual’ if he let her in on the location. Didn’t mean he had to sacrifice the allure of it all, though. Jaz seemed excited about the plan, too, which did things to Adam's confidence.

“You kidding me? Cotton candy, the adrenaline of a shoddy tilt-a-whirl. A whole world of shooting galleries rigged to cheat an average shot. Between the two of us, they won’t know what hit em. This is entirely our scene.” 

Jaz smirked; they both knew he could deliver on that promise, even though she was the better shot of the two of them. A fact that was known to bring out Top’s competitive side. She let that sink in, let him bask in her acknowledgement of his skill with her own wicked plans to thoroughly trounce him, before continuing.

“Soooo...speaking of sweet tooths...I’ve heard there’s a cupcake place a few blocks from here?”

Adam smiled indulgently and wrapped his arm around her back. “We heading there next?”

The smile he got in return was worth the outrageous price he assumed was attached to the trendy phenomena. He’d get her two if it meant she smiled like that later when she ate one at home, thinking of him.

oOo oOo oOo

Adam was waiting at the head of the parking lot. That look she was starting to think of as Off Duty in America was on display as Jaz drove past to find her own parking spot. Well-fitted dark wash jeans, a plaid button-down. It was a slightly spruced up version of how he looked on their non-dates. Not that Jaz minded: Top in jeans that accentuated his assets should be a daily occurrence in her book. 

They had decided to meet at the carnival when Adam was called into headquarters for the afternoon. Jaz thought he’d been secretly disappointed not to get the afternoon to fuss over his plans; she knew he liked the anticipation. She could see that pleasure telegraphed in the lines of his body as she approached him. 

“You find a spot okay?”

Because Jaz was nothing if not a tease, she dug in. “Yeah. Well, I mean, I’m way out there next to some van.” She gestured at the far end of the lot. “Better than the trek across town, I guess. I do not miss DC traffic.”

Adam took one look at her squinting up at him and drew some conclusions.

“You’re teasing me. I let you in on the fact that I love when you let me take you out like this, handle some logistics, get us in a good place, and you use that information against me.”

Jaz was literally biting her lip to keep in the laughter. “Yes, I was able to drive a car and park it. You’re adorable sometimes, you know that, Top?”

That huff was one he usually reserved for antics involving the entire team, when they ganged up together and forgot to take his parameters seriously. And she had gotten him to do it all on her own this time, which shouldn’t make her wickedly proud inside. But it did. 

“The set up was genius. You found that postcard charming, admit it.” Jaz was nodding through his teasing rant. “And this? This is ‘so our scene,’ it’s a perfect date idea. I have plans for us later, too.”

“Oh I bet you do!” Adam was only loosely up against her and Jaz leaned in tighter. Tilted her head up towards his. “I do, too.” Looking down at her, Adam was torn between continuing the tease and giving in to the images those tiny words provoked. His mouth was on hers before he could really debate between the two. God he loved arguing with her. Kissing her added another layer to their incredible give and push and take. He couldn’t get enough of her and now, with her lips on his and her hands in his shirt and her belly pressed up to his hips, he almost forgot he didn’t have to sneak it all in at once. 

Once he recognized that, he knew it was time to reel it back in. Get their tickets. Have a wild ride with tonight’s date. He pulled back just enough to share that idea.

“Hi,” he said instead.

“Hi.” She answered with that smile he had only seen a few times. He really hoped he got to see more of it tonight.


	6. Third Date, continuing

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keeping up with the "posting in bits" plan...
> 
> Also: The questions these two ask each other in this part and the next bit would not have been possible without Sydbond's excellent advice. This may not be any of the directions she put out there (those plot bunnies have cut loose into the wild somewhere), but the actual questions they would settle with each other came directly out of our discussion :-)

Adam bought their tickets with a flourish, given the teasing in the parking lot. Jaz rolled her eyes and let him, then let him squish her sideways and kiss her cheek as they started down the main thoroughfare. Neither of them had eaten dinner, so they made their way to a concession stand with crappy pizza and salty pretzels. As they waited their turn, Jaz remarked, “Amir would be appalled.”

Adam could just see their invisible man torn between assimilating this odd American custom and indulging his own standards for what is and is not appropriately considered ‘real food.’ He could also see an opportunity here, wrapped up in Jaz’s comment. “Maybe we should find out.”

Jaz turned to him in mock horror. “Are you suggesting we invite the team on our date!?” Clearly she was teasing, and yet…

“Well -” That alone was enough for Jaz to smack him as she slipped from disbelief to actual defense of their time together. _And last hurdle before she gets to move things along with this stubborn man_. Adam caught her open hand in his, using it to reel her in.

“I’m just saying - we could send them a pic. Make a jab at Amir.” He used another kiss to her head as a way to get her eyes off him while she considered it. Adam didn’t want her seeing how much he wanted this before she decided she did, too. There was no use in talking her into sharing before she was ready. No matter how badly he didn’t want to hide this from their Omega family.

From the region just under his shoulder he heard, “Okay, but ten bucks says McG comments on Amir’s snobbery before he asks why we’re here on our own.”

It was a bad bet, but Adam took it. Then he snapped a quick pic of the concession stand, in all its deep-fried glory. Carefully avoiding any suggestion that this be about Them, Adam held up his phone to take a selfie. Jaz scooched in and smiled wide as he took a photo. “Do another one,” she demanded before they even looked at how it came out. And in that same breath, she leaned in and gave him an exaggerated kiss on the cheek. Adam couldn’t help the ginormous smile from breaking across his face.

He was almost worried to check how they came out. Jaz took control of his phone, swiping through to find two ridiculously cute photos of the two of them. Turns out his thumb had double-tapped just in time to capture both the kiss and then Jaz pulling back to look in awe at Adam’s happiness.

“Send all three. And one more,” This time it was Jaz holding the phone out with instructions to look “shocked and dismayed, Top.”

Adam started a group message with the four pics attached. “Dinner and a show, apparently. (Does this count as dinner?)”

He slipped the phone back in his pocket and got them each some food.

oOo oOo oOo

Adam and Jaz hit the rides as soon as they finished their pizza. Maybe it would have been a bad idea with folks not used to jumping out of airplanes and running multiple sets of burpees more days than not. In terms of calculated risk, this one veered heavily on the side of _best date ever._

“I love these things!” Jaz exclaimed as they climbed into their car of the whip. The main lights went off in the tent, music started up - a mix of Beyonce that Jaz later explained to Adam was a music video reference. For Adam’s part, he just enjoyed listening to Jaz singing along about giving everything and taking chances. The centrifugal force carried Jaz up against Adam each turn, creating a delicious rhythm of anticipation and inevitable thrusting together.

They were walking along when the first response came to Adam’s group text. Only moments later, Adam’s phone buzzed a second time and he took it out of his pocket to read the two texts.

from MgG: Amir, I demand fried dough the first night back in Incirlik

from Amir: No. That is not dinner. Here, on base, anywhere. Pick something else, McG

“Score!” Jaz let out a whoop. She stuck out her hand. “My ten bucks please.”

Adam shifted his stance and rejoined, “Okay double or nothing, Preach calls them out on missing the salient details.”

Jaz considered the terms. “What are we counting as ‘salient details?’”

She was too experienced to blush, yet as Adam’s eyebrow went up and his pointer finger waggled slowly between the two of them and Jaz felt her cheeks heat up. “Fine. You’re on.”

They continued along, stopping at the various rides they enjoyed. Jaz made them stop at the strong man booth and may have suggested Adam roll up his sleeves before beginning. Make it a real show. He obliged mostly because he wanted to see the look on her face as she made proud, possessive faces at the crowd. Her man, indeed. And if she suggested he leave his sleeves rolled part way up his arms when they were done, he may have just beamed a bit and enjoyed the feeling of showing off for her.

Jaz took her turn and the bell ringing as she hit top strength drowned out the sound of another incoming message. The buzz in his pants alerted Adam, though, and after Jaz deferred picking out a cheap fuzzy thing, Adam showed her the latest in the team conversation.

from Preach: You couldn’t take her out for a real dinner, my man?

It wasn’t like Adam was worried what Jaz would think, he just - he felt the need to apologize for there being any kind of presumptions at all. Everyone knew Preach and he were particularly close. Hand rasping over his beard, Adam confessed, “Preach and I have been having this conversation for a while now…”

That hit a place inside Jaz she hadn’t known was worried. “How long?”

Adam gave her a funny look, not one he usually used as CO. Definitely one that suggested shenanigans were about to ensue.

“You win the next bet and you can ask whatever you want.”

God, there were so many things she could ask him under cover of this little game. But first -

Jaz took Adam’s phone right out of his hands. She typed out something quick and handed it back to him, text still on the screen not yet sent.

from Top: Real dinner was earlier this week. Don’t you worry. He’s treating me right. <3 Jaz

When he finished reading he looked up at a smug looking Jaz. She motioned with her head and Adam hit send.

oOo oOo oOo

With barely any effort, Jaz won the first shooting game they came across, at which point she pivoted in place and demanded, “Spill it. How long you and Preach been talking bout me?”

“Technically -”

Popcorn was thrown in his face and Adam batted it away, chuckling. “A while, Jaz. I - these feelings - look, Preach knew if he didn’t call me out, I’d get stuck in my own damn head. So he did. Quietly and persistently and - it worked.”

“So what you’re saying is, I owe him.”

This time it was Adam’s turn to roll his eyes. “I wouldn’t put it like that.”

Jaz tugged him off to the next game. She had loads of intel to gather.

Except this time, the game was side by side and their guns had no consistency in kickback and before she knew it, Adam was shouting victory over all the frogs knocked off his lillypads while she was still yelling at her own little buggers.

“What the heck just happened?”

“Alright, Jazzy. My turn to ask you a question, right?”

Not wanting to upset the balance of fun in their date, Jaz nodded in the affirmative.

“How long have you thought I was pretty?”

Shoving at him, laughing, Jaz answered. “You have always been pretty! You know that.”

“No, but really. How long? For you?”

“I don’t know. It’s - I wouldn’t let myself take it seriously. But you are pretty.” She looked up at him with approval in her eyes. “And fundamentally decent, like, the kind of decent that I didn’t think really existed. Oh and another thing - you’re really sneaky. God, you were always sneaking in these, these lessons, and messages. About how great I could be. Am.”

Adam smiled to himself. He did sneak in those things. And he was really fucking glad they had worked.

“How was I supposed to resist? So,” Jaz concluded. “Next booth?”

This time she won and the question was out of her mouth before she even looked at the prizes on display. “How did you meet Patricia Campbell?”

“That’s your question?” Adam had been expecting more questions about how this thing between them would work. Here in DC. Back in Incirlik when they redeployed.

“You have no idea how much this topic has been debated.”

“You know I served with Michael, ah, early on.” Jaz nodded. She knew his death was still pretty raw; she listened carefully in a bid of respect.

“Well, I had nowhere to go when we were given leave that first deployment. Happened to fall around Thanksgiving and Michael insisted I go home with him. And there was Patricia.”

“Oh God - did she cook a turkey?!”

The laughter was a welcome relief. “One question per win, I’m afraid. You can, however, imagine the sort of conversation that happens at her table.”

“Even on leave?”

“Even at the holidays.” He chuckled. “It was unlike any kind of mothering I had ever imagined. But it stuck.”

Jaz liked to think she let him win the next game to help bring up his spirits. By the time they made it to their fifth shooting game, though, they were even. Jaz was slow to catch on and when she did, she was aghast.

“Are you - you _let_ me win this time!?”

Adam pretended to be occupied with picking out a ridiculous stuffed frog. Maybe they’d send the box of cheap rewards from tonight to Preach to clutter up his girls’ rooms with playful junk. “It was your turn.”

A giant fluffy unicorn bopped him in the face. The kid manning the booth was just shaking his head at him.

“You know how this all works; you wanna win? Figure out a way to beat me.” Adam bragged and walked off to the next booth.

“Oh it’s on!”


	7. Still That Third Date...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The rest of the third date, proper ;-)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one...went a bit sideways? Turns out this Jaz is all over the place in figuring out how to approach the concept of something bigger than a date. Shocker.

Perhaps if it had been before they decided to give this whole dating thing a shot, Jaz would have had to scheme a bit harder to figure out how to beat Adam at these games. They were unpredictable and she didn’t have enough intel to adjust her tactics with each new set of machinery. Jaz knew exactly what kind of power she had over him by this point, though. 

Why screw with the machinery when she could just screw with Adam?

They walked along, Jaz scoping out the possibilities. She entered a booth with a single shooter game - a simple, old-fashioned ring toss. Adam took the first bright plastic ring in hand and tested the weight of it. Checked out his trajectory from a few angles.

Casually, Jaz stepped forward to lean down on the counter just left of Adam’s way. Still in line of sight. And with her tight black pants, she knew one of her best assets was on full display right where he could get a good look.

“Jazzy. Mind stepping behind me while I take my shot, darlin’?”

The grin she gave him was wicked. Hands held behind her back, she complied. “Don’t think I didn’t notice that,” she shared as she moved just behind him. She knew being in his blind spot wouldn’t truly rattle him, but she was close enough now to whisper just as he prepared to launch his shot. “Wait until you see what I’ve got on underneath…”

Jaz was still grinning as Adam missed his target. Turning to face her, Adam threw out, “That’s how you wanna win?”

“Oh that’s definitely going to be how I win tonight.”

Adam couldn’t really complain. “What’s your question?” 

A bit turned on by her teasing win, Jaz pretended to go sweet. “Do you wanna kiss me?”

Adam didn’t even try to hold back an enthusiastic “Yes.”

Jaz turned on her heel and upped the stakes. “Maybe if you figure out how to win again, you can claim a kiss as a prize.”

Of course, turnabout is fair play. Adam defeated her with his hand just barely under the side and back of her shirt and turned her into his kiss to the hoots of a small crowd who had caught on to their game. Jaz didn’t even care when she lost a second time in a row because it meant Adam pressing along her back, whispering naughty promises into her ear. She'd trade a bit of pride for those images. The third time, she shivered at her name in his mouth. No fingers on skin, no dirty words to shift her focus. Just Adam putting how much he wanted her into the single syllable as she loosed the final bean bag at an easy target. Turns out an honest Adam Dalton was enough to make her miss her shot. 

Instead of claiming another kiss, Jaz tried to push him forward with a question. “We finally gonna fuck tonight?” She refused to soften the sentiment.

Adam pulled her into a photo booth and yanked the curtain closed. She’s folding her arms in front of her when Adam sits on the small bench and pulls her down onto his lap. The first photo captured her shock while falling back into him. Once she was seated on top of him, Adam wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed behind her ear. Their second photo showed how much Jaz didn’t mind that move. And then he told her, “Yeah. I’d like to sleep with you. We can do that tonight if you want. Fucking, screwing - all kinds of ways to call it.”

He lets at least one romantic turn of phrase linger in the unspoken.

oOo oOo oOo

After that, Jaz goes on the offense. She was rattled and feeling the need to prove that this, her ability to make any shot handed to her, is a part of her identity not up for debate. Even if she agreed they were more than fucking. More than anything, she resented the idea that shit got serious in the middle of a silly, fun-filled date that was _supposed_ to end with her finally getting Adam fucking Dalton into bed. That something about her _allowed_ it to get like this. After all, these were the sorts of questions people dating asked each other, weren’t they? Shouldn’t she know these things about Adam, too?

So she went hard and pressed forward. And Adam let her.

At a duck shoot where she outscored him. “Have you ever proposed to anyone?”

“Uh, yes.” Adam rubbed the back of his neck. “She - very wisely - said no. We were too young; neither of us really knew what we wanted.”

Jaz thought there was more to that story; she wasn’t sure she wanted to hear it quite yet, though.

Next booth. “Do you have any children?”

“What? No! No, I do not have any children hiding somewhere you don’t know about! Jesus, Jaz.”

“What - you never really know with men unless you ask.”

At a horse race fueled by accurate shots and speed, in which Adam almost won. “Why haven’t you ever made a move before?” A very pointed finger was directed his way. “And no ‘I’m your CO’ crap excuses either.”

“I am scared of Patricia Campbell. And you.” Adam paused for a moment, thinking. “And McG, but don’t tell him that.” Then he sobered again. “I didn’t want to hurt you, if you didn’t want this. If you weren’t ready.” Jaz noticed he didn’t question whether she might not have wanted _him_ \- just this kind of serious, committed tie to bind her.

Adam looped those arms she loved around her waist, held her loosely against the following.

“Can’t hurt someone if they die on you, though.” Jaz had to kiss him after that one. Even if she was the one forcing all this out between them.

And at a ring toss where Adam missed first, a dozen rounds in. “Were you close to your sister? The one who died?”

“Yes.” And even though Jaz was being mean, Adam pulled her close and took comfort from her. His voice was low and gravelly when he spoke into her hair. “I’ll tell you about her another time, okay? Not tonight.” Chagrined, Jaz simply nodded and let herself be held. The only thing she could think to do in apology was suggest a ceasefire and fried dough doused in sugary sweetness. 

Despite the sadness that lingered with thoughts of his childhood trauma, Adam took a deep breath and blew powdered sugar off his dessert all over his date. The bluster coating Jaz’s reaction was clear from the scale and the sound of it as she jumped up to chase after a very nimble Adam. She might be quick and agile, but he had moves of his own. Including getting caught for a scolding and a sticky sweet kiss.

The mood was immeasurably lighter when they returned to the shooting alley to finish their full tour. First game back at it, though, Jaz finally met her poorly-maintained match: a giant clown head with a targeted tongue. If she hadn’t been pushed over the competitive edge, Jaz might have made a crack about being unable to aim at McG. Except she was keyed up with too much honesty and edgy with want. With such a large target and a lack of moving parts, deceptive angles, or other difficulties, Adam and Jaz squared away the terms: a single shot. 

Jaz scoffed and lined up her pressure shooter and tuned out everything...everything except the buzz of Adam's phone in his pocket at precisely the wrong moment. Her shot went just left of center, hitting the clown in the tongue without sufficient force for the mechanism to catch.

Small hands released the fake gun and her boots crunched pavement as she took one step back, followed by another.

“I can't believe I missed it.”

The young guy manning the booth seemed unimpressed by her reaction. “It’s a tricky setup. Wanna go again? Five bucks gets you three shots.”

His words floated right past her as Jaz turned to Top. “It’s a dumbass game - how did I miss that?”

The connections between the buzz in his pocket and the timing of Jaz’s shot and their confessions to the team happened so quickly, they were out Adam’s mouth before he could stop them.

“Did you mean it? Earlier - texting the guys. You want this when we get back to Turkey?”

“What?”

“That’s my question. Do you mean it?”

The daze from her disbelief at missing her shot bled into the shock of shifting verb tenses. Jaz thought some part of her wanted the team to know now, not when they gathered again to prep for deployment, not when they returned to Incirlik. If they were doing this, it had to be all in. Wasn’t that what Adam’s ridiculous rules of dating were all about?

Another part of her, _apparently the part attached to her trigger finger_ , she thought ruefully, wasn’t sure she was ready for all that. Which pissed her off even more than Adam’s return to their increasingly serious questions. Jaz turned back to get the damn clown in her sights and double-tapped the target.

“Game over.”

She didn’t wait for Adam before walking away.

oOo oOo oOo

Jaz was standing in front of a mirror that distorted her so she couldn’t even find her face. Eyes in one corner, mouth twisted across the other side, a rash of dark hair crowding across the image. She thought Adam made noise to let her know it was him, he was coming in, too, and then his image was scattered among her own. His warmth beside her without touching.

They stood there in silence for a few minutes. Adam wouldn’t be rushed into this any more than Jaz was willing to fill the air just for the sake of useless noise. When he spoke, it was to reestablish what had been lost. 

“We don’t have to figure this all out tonight.”

That’s not what his questioning had suggested. Jaz tried not to harrumph, even though she knew she might as well, the way he anticipated her reactions, counted them even without them fully between them. 

“We - work together. We do. This -” Adam gestured back and forth between them. “Between us - isn’t going away. We got time to sort out the rest.”

Jaz turned away from the jumbled image in the mirror to the one before her in real life. “Thought you wanted all that settled in our trial period. Isn’t that what this all is to you?”

Adam was looking at her like he did when she first joined the team and he devoted considerable mental resources to determining how to make sense of her, how to craft her into the partner he wanted without losing the very thing that challenged him right back. And then he was pressing forward, moving them both until the wonky mirrored surface was at her back. 

“Jasmine Kahn, I am in love with you. Have been, for far longer than I have been allowed. That’s not changing any time soon. If you want this, we have it. We have all the time in the world to figure out what that means. And if you don’t, well. We’ll figure that out, too.”

She wanted to sound exasperated or brave or scolding or just about anything that meant she had known this moment was headed her way. In a small voice instead, Jaz replied, “Of course I do.”

He was so close, right there. Saying these careful, loving things to confirm they were okay. Better than okay. So Jaz did the only thing she could do - she got a good grip on his sides, pulled him in, and kissed him. Openly. Repeatedly. Breathing right into him.

What started as a bid for misdirection on her part turned rather heated almost immediately. Those teasing touches earlier had been fueling the heat that was always there. All night the want had been rising in waves through Adam as they worked themselves through competition and the new fun of open flirting and such hard won intimacy. There was barely room between them to begin as Adam cleared the air; now there was none. Adam was leaning snug between Jaz’s legs, groaning a bit each time she shifted against him. One hand was in her hair, just feeling how silky smooth it was on his skin, the other rubbing up and down her arm, encouraging her grip where it had moved from his side to his denim-clad ass. 

They were both breathing heavy and Adam was sure more than one group had snickered as they passed the two of them, making out like teenagers. He slid his mouth to Jaz’s neck with every intention of whispering the need to pause into her ear. He just...got distracted along the way, nipping and nuzzling and kissing that gorgeous neck stretching into his attention.

“God, Adam. Mmmm.”

He laughed a bit at that; she was going to be embarrassed about moaning out loud in a minute. “Jaz, we gotta stop.” Adam pulled back enough to set his forehead on hers and to hold her hips against the wall while he leaned back. “We’re not entirely alone.”

Jaz looked to her right and saw no one in the dark hall. 

“Doesn’t look that way to me.”

“Good, cause I’m gonna need a minute.”

That thought just made all the heat pooling in Jaz’s center throb. She slipped out from between the wall and her boyfriend and faced the hallway. Over her shoulder she quipped, “You think it’ll be just a minute?”

Adam swatted her on the ass and tucked her up against his side. “You keep from getting handsy and I think we should be all set by the time we’re done in here.”

The quiet meant Jaz made no promises. 

oOo oOo oOo

Without discussing it, they found their way to several old school rides. Jaz had insisted on riding the Merry Go Round mostly so they could kiss in the swan chariot. When one kiss turned into three, Adam groaned out, “Jaz. There are children here.” She just hmmed into his shoulder and reminded herself they had all night.

Not that that really helped cool things down.

“I think it’s time to head home, don’t you?” Jaz’s voice was low and artificially steady; she was looking forward to the end of this date. So was he, frankly. Still.

“Nope. One more thing we gotta do.”

Jaz let her confusion shape her eyebrows and move the muscles around her mouth. Adam simply tucked her hand back around his arm where it had been off and on this evening. It had been reminding him of all the times they’d had to pretend to be a couple and he could feel Jaz ready to pull her arm away as soon as they were alone. Tonight she had leaned into him every time they twisted hands and arms together, gravitating in his direction instead of being repelled by the fiction of faux connection. 

Jaz had no idea what Adam was planning. Whatever it was had him excited enough that she had to up her slow-paced meandering to keep up with his longer stride. As they approached the Ferris wheel, he tucked his face down and stole a glance at her, shy smile puffing up his cheeks. It would be mean to do anything other than respond in kind. 

“We going up?” She asked through smiling teeth.

Adam disengaged from their demi-embrace and walked over to hand their tickets to the operator. The ride slowed to a stop and the few passengers disembarked. Then held out his hand to Jaz. “Ready?”

The impulse buzzed through Jaz to ignore the gesture and hoist herself into the car. Prove she was fully capable of such a simple task on her own. But she didn’t want to be alone tonight, not even in this.

A squeak and a lurch. Jaz found herself giggling as her hands instinctively grabbed the bar in front of them. They were off. 

They circled once, a few pauses to let on other fairgoers. Each time they stopped, their carriage shook with the change in momentum. Then they crested and the pause extended into a full stop. 

The air was starting to chill with the sun starting to go down. Not that either of them needed an excuse to cuddle into each other. Wasn’t that the point of this ride?

“It’s beautiful. This view.”

“It is,” Adam agreed easily. When she caught his eye, Jaz found he was looking only at her. “The view, Adam.” Jaz gestured over the Potomac.

“Yeah.” He cupped her cheek and when he moved in, Jaz was expecting a kiss. They’d had all sorts of kisses this date. Adam rubbed his nose against hers and practically felt her eyes rolling at the sappiness. “The sunset’s beautiful, yes. You’re beautiful, too, Jaz.”

She huffed into it and then, because she had been paying attention tonight, had figured out when she needed to curb her instinct to flee from facts, Jaz buried her face into Adam’s shoulder and let him run his hand in her hair. And because it was also still Jaz, she couldn’t hold herself back from lifting her head and accusing, “Did you pay the ride operator to stop us up here?”

Adam was grinning like a fool and not denying a thing. “Let me have this last sappy moment. You get to drive the rest of the night, okay?”

Jaz lifted an eyebrow in quick consideration. “Deal.”


	8. Third Date into Morning

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “You get to drive. Well,” Adam nodded back in the direction of his own car across the lot. “We both get to drive.” That grin was still on her face, though now she was snarking internally at his corny joke. He was fairly certain he didn’t mind. Not when he got to ask, “Where we going?”
> 
> And got to see that grin crack into the kind of open, vulnerable wanting Jaz didn’t allow many people to see. Of course, he didn’t mind the trace of wickedness when she made her move. “You’re coming home with me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been a hot minute. Posting in smaller sections as the writing has slowed a bit...Thank you to everyone who is patiently waiting and still reading these updates!!

“Why didn’t we take the same car?” That pout on Jaz’s cheeks and lips was nearly biteable. Adam could follow through on that errant thought now.

Jaz was between her Camry and Adam, who, despite her pulling him in, refused to continue pressing her into the curve of the driver’s side door. Firm hands gripped her hips, holding her just out of reach of his own. After his teeth scraped her bottom lip, he pulled back one last time. 

“So. Miss Kahn.”

A puff of air and an entire head roll and then she was back with him. “Yes, Mr. Dalton.” A statement, a continuation even as it wasn’t a question. Adam could work with that; he didn’t mind having to ask for what he wanted, even if that was for her to make the next move.

“What’s next?”

There was that lightning grin that could cause so much trouble if he let it. “You mean, I get to plan the next date? Finally get some decision-making power around here?”

She knew exactly what he was setting her up to decide. Adam thought back to their pre-date, when Jaz had assumed he had plotted a whirlwind adventure to let her down easy. Thought about how she had tried to talk him into bed not long after she figured out he was betting on them. His thumb made its way up to rub along the lower lip he’d just had in his mouth. “Whatever you want. You let me have my sappy sunset, remember?”

Jaz’s face remained placid, though Adam knew when the memory crossed her mind. “I get to drive.”

“You get to drive. Well,” Adam nodded back in the direction of his own car across the lot. “We both get to drive.” That grin was still on her face, though now she was snarking internally at his corny joke. He was fairly certain he didn’t mind. Not when he got to ask, “Where we going?”

And got to see that grin crack into the kind of open, vulnerable wanting Jaz didn’t allow many people to see. Of course, he didn’t mind the trace of wickedness when she made her move. “You’re coming home with me.”

“Yeah?” He couldn’t help it; Adam could listen to her wanting him all night.

“Yeah.” Jaz confirmed, pushing him away as he came in for a kiss. “Go!” She yelled through a laugh, swiveling to open her door. “Better not leave me waiting!” She added as Adam stood watching her get started. 

oOo oOo oOo

Adam beat her home. Didn’t matter she had a head start and knew the route better than he did; he was standing at her door when she pulled into her drive. “What was that you said about waiting?” he teased as she made her way over to him.

“Hi.” She scooted past him to get to her door.

“Hello.” Adam turned her back to him with hands on her shoulders, kissing her up against the still-closed door. This heat had been simmering all night, even before making out against her car. Now, so close to the night she had been waiting for since, well. For far too long - Jaz melted right into him. They’d barely finished a single deep pull when firm hands swept up her back and landed on her shoulders again, turning her back to the locked door. 

“You should give that your full attention.”

“You expecting to come in or something?” she teased. 

She swung open the door and stepped in, already toeing off her boots in her excitement. When he didn’t snark back, Jaz looked back over her shoulder and saw him 

“No - really. You coming in?” 

Adam stepped forward and closed the door behind him before leaning back against it. If he kept looking at her like that all night - like he couldn’t believe he was here, like she was the softest part of his life - Jaz wasn’t sure she could keep it together. And she desperately wanted the other bits of Adam, the ones she already knew pulled them into each other’s orbits. When Jaz had picked out the black lace she was wearing for their adventures in dating, she had imagined them negotiating all kinds of fun. The potential for teasing the hell out of each other and bringing the push and pull that defined their relationship did not stop for sentimental cliches. 

Except, maybe Adam did. Maybe he always had planned it that way with her.

The black jacket Jaz had been wearing came off slow and was thrown in a heap on the table in the direction of the living room. Jaz met Adam where he still stood, back glued to her door, and brought her hands up to his neck. Took the first button between finger and thumb with her right hand. Scratched her fingernail into the soft cotton and asked, “Adam Dalton. May I?”

Immediately, he was nodding, sweet look still in his eyes on her. “You making fun of me?”

“Mmhmm.” Two buttons undone and a third nearly there. “Gonna need a middle name for when you’re reeeaallly in trouble.” That got him moving forward, pushing back with her into the living room. Once he got moving, Adam got on board, as well. The hand that reached for the hem of her shirt was tempting, so tempting...but Jaz had plans of her own. The light smack caused enough of a stutter in her love that Jaz filed it away for later. “Ah ah ah. Who’s driving?”

“Fuck, Jaz.” Was that a slight pout?

“That’s kinda the point…” The lightest push had him falling back onto the armchair.


End file.
